Turn your back!

Ken Gurnick answeres some questions from Dodger fans at main site. This one touched me specifically, as I am more of an unrealistic fan. It's easy to see where other teams have made improvements in their respective front offices (Mariners, Red Sox, A's, Brewers, Rays) by adding a division that uses statistical analysis instead of/ or with typical scouting. The Mariners specifically will no longer have travelling scouts but use a video analysis system.

Do you think this will be the year when Dodger fans turn their backs on the team?-- Mike M., Riverside, Calif.

The Dodgers were in baseball's final four two months ago. The Angels weren't. The Yankees weren't. If fans are turning their backs on the Dodgers because they aren't spending more money than the Yankees, consider that the Dodgers spent wildly in the past on the winter's top free agent (Kevin Brown) and heaped tons of money to keep their own players from leaving. It hasn't worked.

The question wasn't about spending money. The question was about management overall and the fans turning their backs on the stupid Dodger management. I will always be a Dodger fan, but if they sign any more high priced free agents over the age of 35 it will be easy for me to never watch another game knowing that they can't win that way.

Also, you can't possibly make the case that the Dodgers were a better team than the Yankees or Angels because we made it further in the playoffs. We made it further because we faced the rest of the "nancy" NL West and a Cubs team that fell asleep at the wheel sometime in late July when clinched the NL Central.

The Dodgers are trying a different approach, dependent on the continued improvement of their younger players. A lot of fans never will be happy with that approach. They only want the biggest names that come with the biggest salaries, and they will be satisfied with nothing less.
None of last year's highest-paid free agents signed with the Phillies or the Rays, who met in the World Series. If spending the most always meant winning the World Series, the Yankees would have won rings over the last eight seasons. They didn't.

I for one will be happy if we take the "go young" approach! I've always felt that we need players from both free agency and our farm system, but the only way we could develop a winning additude was to play players that we drafted. Signing Jones, Schmidt and Pierre didn't work. 2 out of the 3 we knew it wouldn't work. And Jones was questionable at best. We certainly need to fill our holes with free agency. But to try and develop excess through it is ridiculous. We'd have 5 full time outfielders with Manny. 2 of which would be on the bench making a combined 30 million dollars. I'm not in favor of that. But at the same we would still have a hole in the outfield if we didn't sign Manny.

Logan White has done his job in the draft. Taking great players and loading up our system with uber-talent. Ned has traded some of that away in mostly questionable deals. Whatever system he has for the Dodgers (I don't think he has one) isn't working and we do need a change before he ruins what little hope we do have.

The McCourts are running a business, not only a team. There always will be fans resenting that, especially when the Yankees seem to have no limit to their resources. But it's reality.

I totally understand that baseball is a business. There is a huge amount of money being passed around and it can't go overlooked. The reality is, when passing around such huge amounts of moeny, why would they do it so unwisely? Why would they invest 125 million in the ideas of a mad man named Ned Colletti? Oh the humanity!

It will be easy for me to turn my back on the Dodgers when they raise ticket prices, parking prices, and concession prices, and they can't even field a winning team. It will be easy to change my colors to a blue more aqua (Seattle).